Mattress border



F. J. COURY MATTRESS BORDER Feb. 15, 1966 Filed Oct. '7, 1965 F'IG.3.

FIGS.

INVENTOR S J. COURY FRANCI BY M- F u.

a Hls ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,234,901 Patented Feb. 15, 1966 3,234,901 MATTRESS BORDER Francis J. Coury, Highland Park, N .J., assignor to Romar Tissue Mills, Inc., Wheelwright, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 314,371 2 Claims. (Cl. 112-417) This invention relates to improvements in mattresses, cushions and the like and particularly to an improved type of border material for finishing and padding the edges of mattresses, cushions and the like.

Innerspring mattresses are composed of a large number of coil springs which are tied together to hold them in upright spaced apart relation. A layer or layers of padding such as cotton felt, latex or plastic foam or combinations thereof are disposed above and below the springs to provide a soft sleeping surface. Usually the edges of the mattress are covered by a border strip of fabric to encase and protect the springs and in the better grades of mattresses, the border strip may also be padded to improve its ability to pad the springs or wire frames which frequently are associated with the edges of a mattress.

Heretoi'ore, the border strip padding has consisted of a band or strip formed of a great many layers of a thin, soft tissue paper similar to absorbent facial tissue, the layers being held together by embossing applied in lines adjacent to the edges of the strips by means of embossing rollers.

Such bands are soft and pliable and can flex and bend in all directions without imposing any substantial restraint on the bending or compressing of the mattress edges. Moreover, it is durable when not subjected to tensile or tearing stresses.

Inasmuch, however, as the tissue paper band is subjected to tensile and tearing stress when installed in the mattress, it has been customary to sew a layer of closely Woven fabric on the back or inner side of the band and then cover the outer side of the band which is to be disposed at the edge of the mattress with the same type of fabric used for covering the top and bottom of the mattress. Thus, the multi layer pad band of tissue is disposed between two layers of fabric and two sewing operations are required to produce the completed band which is attached to the edges of the mattress. While the cost of the materials used in the border material is not very substantial, the labor involved in sewing the inner and outer layers of fabric to the tissue paper pad band is considerable and adds very substantially to the cost of a mattress.

In accordance with the present invention, padding for mattress border material and for similar uses in cushions in furniture and the like are provided in which the need for a reinforcing inner covering of fabric and the attendant operation of sewing the covering to the padding band are eliminated. More particularly, in accordance with the present invention, I have found that if a thin, open or coarse mesh strip of material, such as scrim, formed cotton, nylon or other synthetic or natural fibers is interposed between layers of the tissue paper in the border pad band, it strengthens the pad band to such an extent that little or no other reinforcement is required. The band can be directly assembled with the outer fabric covering with a single sewing operation thereby reducing material, labor and manufacturing costs. The layer of thin, open or coarse mesh material does not appreciably affect the pliability and flexibility of the material but it greatly reinforces it against tearing and tensile stresses thereby prolonging the life of the border band and prevents the stitches by means of which the cover is attached from tearing out of the pad band.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a view in elevation of a portion of a mattress shown partially broken away and including the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View partially broken away of padding material for mattress borders embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a view in section and on enlarged scale taken on line 3--3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a mattress border with the pad band and the outer fabric covering assembled together; and

FIGURE 5 is a view in section and on enlarged scale taken on line 55 of FIGURE 4.

As shown in FIGURE 1, a typical mattress M to which the present invention may be applied includes a plurality of springs 10 and 11 arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows with the springs disposed generally vertically and held in spaced relation by spring ties or other well known means (not shown). The mattress M also includes top and bottom padding 12 and 13 which may be composed of layers of cotton felt or any of the other materials used for the padding.

The peripheral edges of the mattress are covered with a border material 14 which serves to cover and conceal the springs and to protect against contact with the springs as well as improve the overall appearance of the mattress.

In accordance with the present invention, a novel border material 14 is provided which as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 includes a pad band B composed of a plurality of layers 15 of a thin, soft tissue paper material of loosely fibered and semi-creped nature, similar to a soft absorbent tissue. The tissue may be formed of wood pulp fibers, other cellulosic fibers or other similar materials. In a typical pad band B, 10, 20 or 30 or more layers 15 of the tissue are superimposed to provide a pad band B of a desired thickness of, for example, about to /2 inch or more. Further, in accordance with the present invention, a strip 16 of scrim or other thin fabric of open or coarse mesh made of thin threads or filaments is interposed in the hand between two layers of the tissue paper. In order to secure the layers 15 and the strip 16 together, they are embossed with toothed embossing rollers along their edges to form a series of indentations 17 and 18 in which the fibers at the indentations are mingled in such a manner as to prevent separation of the layers. The pad band B so provided is self-sustaining, pliable, compressible and by reason of the presence of the fabric layer 16 therein is resistant to tearing or damage by tensile stresses applied lengthwise or transversely thereof. Due to the strength of the band of padding material, it can be attached to a strip of mattress covering fabric 19 which may be the same or different from the fabric covering the top and bottom of the mattress. The mattress covering fabric 19 is stitched as at the seams 20 in a zig zag or other pattern to the pad band B in any desired way such as for example by means of lock-stitch sewing machine. The layer of reinforcing fabric 16 provides sutficient body to the band B so that the seams 20 will not pull out and permit the covering fabric 19 to separate from the pad band B. The completed border cover 14 can then be attached to the mattress in any of the usual ways as for example by means of conventional Welt edges 21 or the like to form a decorative and well-padded border for the mattress which will not disintegrate over long periods of use.

The new padding and border material provided in accordance with the present invention can be made by conventional embossing and sewing operations and the need for reinforcing of the padding band with an inner covering of fabric and the attendant stitching thereof to the padding are overcome by the present invention.

It will be understood that the width and thickness of the pad band can be modified by varying the number of layers of the tissue and the fabric layer 16 does not have to be located centrally within the layers of the pad band B. Accordingly, the form of the invention disclosed therein should be considered as illustrative and it will be understood that the invention is limited only by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A border material for mattresses comprising a band containing a plurality of layers of thin soft crepe tissue paper of low tensile strength and a sheet of thin, openmesh fabric within said band between layers of said paper, said layers and sheet being secured together as a self-sustaining unit by embossing extending lengthwise of said band adjacent to its longitudinal edges.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,365,483 1/1921 Greenlee 112-440 1,565,267 12/1925 Fowler ll2-440 X 1,726,680 9/1929 Rayner 28-722 1,742,338 1/1930 Bettison 2872.2 2,237,580 4/1941 Sackner 1l2417 2,381,184 8/1945 Ripley 2872.2 X 2,800,170 7/1957 Richardson 1124l7 X 2,920,373 1/1960 Gresham 2872.2 3,117,905 l/l964 Smith 2872.2 X

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BORDER MATERIAL FOR MATTRESSES COMPRISING A BAND CONTAINING A PLURALITY OF LAYERS OF THIN SOFT CREPE TISSUE PAPER OF LOW TENSILE STRENGTH AND A SHEET OF THIN, OPENMESH FABRIC WITHIN SAID BAND BETWEEN LAYERS OF SAID PAPER, SAID LAYERS AND SHEET BEING SECURED TOGETHER AS A SELF-SUSTAINING UNIT BY EMBOSSING EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF SAID BAND ADJACENT TO ITS LONGITUDINAL EDGES. 